A Stitch in Time
by BossC
Summary: What if Castle's time in the Hamptons was interrupted?  What if Kate disappeared and they were frantic to find her? How I think season 3 should start.
1. Chapter 1

**Note:** All the episode titles are very catchy and it took me a while to come up with one for this story. This takes place after the season 2 finale but it is my idea of what the first episode of season 3 should be.

A Stitch in Time

Chapter 1:

Castle's quiet retreat in the Hamptons didn't turn out to be what he was expecting this time. He was hoping for a place to focus and work on his writing without distractions. But everywhere he turned, he found himself expecting to see Kate. Their lives had been so entangled the last two years he had rarely had a day when he hadn't seen her—actually off the top of his head he couldn't think of ANY day he hadn't seen her at SOME point. Now it had been a month. His attention was supposed to be on his writing but how could he when all he could think about was the muse for the character of Nikki?

The doorbell rang.

Castle groaned. If Gina locked herself out, he'd leave here there. But he glanced out the window. He recognized the car—not Gina's. Bounding down the stairs he pulled open the door.

"Hey bro."

Esposito. Castle's heart fell.

"Your caseload must be pretty light to visit during working hours." He joked

"He's taking his smoking break." Ryan's voice informed him.

"I didn't know either one of you were smokers."

"We're not," Esposito cut Ryan off. "We just pretend we do so we can get the breaks."

"A long enough break so you can drive to the Hampton's? Wow."

"Can we come in?" Both men seemed edgy, but Castle figured that could be because he hadn't talked to them in so long.

"Sure, come on in."

The two moved past him, their eyes taking in everything they saw.

"I hope this is not about the tickets that I have gotten in NY that I haven't had time to pay yet, because I'll get to them…they don't have to send two detectives after me." Castle closed the door behind them

"Tickets…we probably should be concerned about those. But that's not why we are here." Ryan told him.

"So what's up?"

"We wondered how you were doing in the Hampton's…"

"With your book…"

"With your ex wife."

Castle winced. That was the last time he had seen them. "Ex wife is still ex…it only took a couple hours to remind me why. ' Not sure why I invited her to come with me in the first place."

"We wondered that before you even left." Esposito's words were clipped.

"What was I supposed to do all summer?"

"You mean without a woman or without leaving New York?" He challenged.

"What was I supposed to do?" Castle shrugged.

"What you had always been doing—working with us."

"And I'm supposed to do that forever?"

"You think your sudden departure was a good idea? It made you seem like a spoiled child throwing a fit when suddenly things don't go your way!" Esposito shot back.

"Wait a minute guys," Ryan held up his hands, "We are here because we were hoping that Kate was with you."

"Montgomery let you take a "break" to see if Kate was with me?"

"Well yeah, he did considering…" Esposito punched Ryan in the arm and he stopped his sentence.

Castle narrowed his eyes. "Considering what?"

"Considering that last time you two talked it wasn't on very good terms." Esposito filled in.

"What do you mean?"

"That Beckett was trying to talk to you privately and you let Gina cut her off." Esposito spat the name of Castle's ex wife.

Castle bristled "I don't see how any of that is any of your business."

"Technically true, but you were a part of our team for a while and we get into eachother's business because we care."

"Especially when one of us is missing."

"Well, I'm glad," he started before realizing what they said, "Missing?" Castle straightened up.

Esposito glared at his partner, "Ryan, you could have let me ask it better."

"Like how, bad cop style?" Ryan puffed out his chest, "Mr. Castle where were you the past two days, who were you with and why were you with them?"

"No like this," Esposito corrected crossing his arms and doing HIS bad cop routine, "Mr. Castle, we have a couple of questions for you but you have been avoiding our calls, which is not a good thing since we are the police."

Both men advanced. "What is your relationship with Kate Beckett?" Esposito fired at him.

"When was the last time you talked to her?" Ryan asked

"Any fights we should be aware of?"

"GUYS!" Castle threw his arms up. "Look, I know I might have not been the most patient with her but she is a big girl and can handle a summer with Demming."

"Demming's gone."

Castle froze. "As in missing?"

"No. She dumped him."

"When?"

"The day you waltzed out of our bullpen and into your vacation with your model ex wife."

Castle was speechless.

"You didn't even let her tell you did you?" Esposito demanded.

Castle thought over their conversation before he left that day. She had been nervous, but he assumed that was because of the tension between him and Demming. _"I just wanted to tell you…"_

He had cut her off. He remembered the way her face fell. He used Gina to make her feel what he had been feeling because of Demming—rejection, insecurity and a host of other emotions.

"What a fool!" Castle reached for the couch.

Esposito and Ryan remained standing. Castle remembered her face when she saw Gina, how she abruptly stopped talking...

"Has she called?" Ryan brought him back to reality.

Guilt hit him hard. "There was a message but I…deleted it before I listened to it."

"You deleted it!" Ryan was skeptical

Esposito's eyes narrowed. "Ryan, I forgot the thing I was going to show Castle, could you get it from the car?"

"What thing?" Ryan looked at his partner. Esposito faced him as his voice lowered in an effort to contain his emotions. "It is on the backseat and I need you to get it now."

"Ok." Ryan raised his eyebrows but he left the room. Esposito didn't even give Castle time to react, for when the door closed, Esposito grabbed Castle's shirt and hauled him up and shoved him against the wall. Castle felt his head hit and saw black a moment, before Esposito's face was in his.

"Is this how you treat all women? If so I don't blame any of your girlfriends for leaving! She makes the effort to call you and you don't take her call or even listen to her message…what kind of callused bastard are you!"

Castle was steel reeling from the force of the impact, "Geez, Esposito, calm down…."

"Calm down! You walk out of the bullpen after Kate wants to talk…"

"I didn't want to ruin things between her and Demming!"

"Why? If you cared at all, why would you leave her like that?"

"It had been uncomfortable for a while…"

Esposito gave him another shove. "Don't give me that—if you liked her why not make a move for her?"

"I wanted her happy and if Demming made her happy, so be it." This time Castle shoved back.

"Too bad we'll never know."

Castle paused. "What?"

"She's missing."

Castle felt like Esposito had socked him in the gut. "When?"

The front door creaked.

"Esposito, all I found was the file of suspects in the Robinson case." Ryan's voice came from the front door as he slammed it shut behind him.

"That's what I wanted Ryan." Esposito stepped back from Castle and grabbed the file. Ryan looked at Castle. Then at Esposito. "Do I want to know what just happened here?"

Esposito looked up. Castle's shirt was mused where he had pushed him and he was rubbing his head. "Oh, he tripped on something."

"I don't want to know." Ryan mumbled

"Beckett is missing…why didn't you call?" Castle tried to make sense of things.

"We did…"

"…but apparently Beckett is not the only person you are ducking." Esposito glared at him.

"Seven calls to your cell, three messages starting yesterday afternoon and a call to your publisher." Ryan filled in. He knew something happened between the two men, the air was so thick you could slice it with a knife.

"She's been missing that long?"

"We had to wait 24 hours before we could officially label her missing."

Castle swore.

"And with someone ducking our calls…"

"I got it." Castle snapped. "What does her dad think?"

"There's no way she left town without telling him—at least not willingly."

**Author's Note:** I really wanted an Esposito/Castle showdown so I got to write one. Maybe the writers will give us one when the show starts—Please, please! This is my first Castle fan-fic so please be patient, but I would appreciate constructive opinions and comments.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapt 2

**Author's note:** Thanks for all the comments guys and gals! Now I know how other writers on this site feel when they say, "More reviews make me write faster" you all have been a great encouragement to keep writing on this story.

Good point, Migalouch. I re-read the first chapter and Esposito did come off QUITE a bit like a "loose cannon." I tried to imagine what he would be feeling if Kate was really gone but it came out a little harsh—ok, a lot harsh. I did backtrack a little for Esposito in this chapter hopefully it will be better but not too far the other way into sappy.

Chapter 2: NYC

Esposito hadn't said a word the entire drive to New York City. Castle was still in shock—besides the ringing in his head. _Kate, missing!_ _This can't be right!_

Arriving in town, Esposito headed straight for the department.

"Ryan, park the car, Castle and I will check in with the Captain and see what's been happening." Esposito crawled out of the car and strode into the building.

Castle followed the cop into the precinct giving him a wide birth. At the elevator, Esposito glanced his way.

"Sorry."

Castle turned to Esposito. He was clenching his jaw but there seemed to be another emotion in his eyes. "I thought I had my temper under control. You should expect better of a cop."

The elevator dinged as it arrived on the first floor and people walked out cutting off Castle's reply. Only Castle and Esposito got in the elevator.

Castle hit the button for Kate's floor. "I can't say that makes it ok."

"I know." Esposito hung his head. "You should tell the Captain. It's bad enough hiding it from Ryan."

For the first time in his life, Castle wasn't sure what to say. "I know you care about Beckett, I can chalk it up to being concerned for her."

"Don't do that." Esposito bit his lip. "I was an ass and you are being nice about it."

Castle reached over to the elevator switch, hit the emergency stop and faced him. "You've always been there for her."

"It's not just about Kate." Esposito admitted meeting his eyes. "You left us too—me and Ryan. I know; you're a writer not a cop so you shouldn't have to spend the rest of your life following us around…" he sighed. "but you didn't call, you didn't even_ answer_ our calls. I thought we were a team. **I** thought we were at least friends…but it seemed like you didn't even care about us anymore."

"I can see how you would think that, but that is far from the truth." Castle swallowed. "I figured that you guys would be thrilled to be able to do some detective work without me tagging along."

"I had forgotten how boring it was without you—it felt like work, drudgery, not fun." Esposito gave a half smile.

Castle smiled too. "Are we ok?"

"Considering that I was the one shoving you around, I should be asking _you_ that."

"Oh, that." Castle shrugged, "I tripped."

"You aren't going to tell the Captain?"

"No."

"Then I will." Esposito reached for the stop switch but Castle grabbed his arm.

"No you won't."

"I was reaching for the switch to turn the elevator back on."

"You won't tell the Captain." Castle clarified.

"You would think that me of all people would avoid even an accusation of police brutality."

"I mean it, Esposito. He'll pull you off the case."

Esposito winced, "I probably should be."

"I don't see what a fight between friends has to do with police brutality." Castle insisted, "It was a reaction to Beckett being missing and my supposed indifference."

"I won't tell him now, but I will—after Beckett is found." He relented.

"We'll finish this conversation after we find her." Castle agreed. This time he let Esposito turn the elevator back on.

"You really thought she was with me?"

"We hoped. But I didn't think so."

"Why?" Castle was curious to his answer.

"She would never have left her job without any notice." Esposito reminded gravely. The elevator opened on their floor. Castle looked around. It was all so familier.

_And why did I leave?_

He stepped out of the elevator ran into the one person Castle was hoping to avoid.

"You finally got here." Demming didn't look happy to see him.

Castle plastered on a smile. "I didn't realize I had to follow her around all the time like you did."

"How long does it take you guys to get back to the bullpen?" Ryan raised his eyebrows as he came up the hall.

"Elevator had a problem halfway up." Castle covered.

"It was stuck there a while, I got tired of waiting so I used the stairs." He pulled out his desk chair and shook his computer mouse.

Montgomery walked in. "Nice to finally see you, Castle. Even the mayor tried to call you."

Castle winced. Another reminder that he tried to be unreachable. "I get the picture; EVERYONE short of the president tried to call me and no one could get through. Now can we move on! What do we have?"

"BOLO has been out on her car since we left, Ryan see if we've got any hits." Esposito tossed his keys onto his desk.

"She's been working overtime since the beginning of the summer." Lanie walked into the room. "Then Monday, she leaves to grab lunch and no one has heard from her since."

"Who was the last person who talked to her?" Castle asked. All the guys looked at the only female in the room. Castle followed their glances

"Yes, it was me." Lanie told Castle.

"What did you talk about?" He asked.

"You."

"Me?"

"That's why I thought—I guess I should say, hoped—that she went to see you."

Castle was reeling. "Why?"

"She didn't get to have the talk with you that she wanted, I thought…maybe."

"Maybe what?"

"If she didn't go see you, I don't see that the point of telling you would be. I'm her friend and if she wanted me to do the talking I would have already said it."

"That's what we had to put up with." Ryan murmured to Castle.

"Lanie knew something was up when Beckett didn't call that night…but we had to wait 24 hours."

"The first 24 hours are the most critical."

"That is for children. Adults are…well, adults. They can take vacations and disappear…"

"But not Kate." Castle knew that for sure.

"It's been a rough summer on her…she needed one." Demming added.

Castle had had enough, "What is he doing here?"

"I don't have to be dating Kate to care about what happens to her unlike someone else we know." Demming jabbed back.

"Both of you," Montgomery spoke, "That is enough. We have a missing person case on our hands and since you are robbery Demming, you really shouldn't be here."

Castle smiled triumphantly.

"And Castle, since Kate isn't with you or even contacted you I don't see why you should be here either."

Demming grinned.

"Captain!"

"Don't push it Castle. The deal with the department is that you follow Detective Beckett around and you chose to leave earlier this summer. But for both of you," He looked at Demming and then Castle. "I will allow you to work on this case since you both knew her and can help with some of what she was thinking. But don't push it—I'd send either of you home if I thought it would be helpful, so don't test me." He turned on his heal and headed for his office.

The group was quiet a moment.

"Since we've got an official missing person's lets get to work."

"Before we have a body."

"Don't even go there." Castle's rough exterior cracked. He wrote mysteries but that was because they enthralled him, not because he had friends who were victims. He looked at her desk. _God, please let me wake up and find this is a dream!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note**: Thanks for all the comments! It might be a while 'till the next chapter, I have to make sure I have all the details right for the case.

Chapter 3

"Ryan, you are on electronics, I want to know who Kate's been talking to and see if you can track the phone now." Esposito scrolled through the computer file.

"You mean you haven't done that already?"

Esposito gave Castle a withering glare. "Without an official missing person declaration, it would have been abusing our jobs and could get us fired…"

"Besides, we were all hoping that she was with you." Lanie whispered. Castle heard her and turned to the M.E.

"Why were you talking about me?"

"Kate is my friend and a lot of it was girl talk."

"This is an investigation!" He almost shouted.

"If she's alive, she'd kill me for telling you and if she's dead…"

They all stopped and looked at the medical examiner.

"Then it no longer matters." Her eyes darkened. The emotion there hit Castle like a wave. Sure he had known Beckett for two years, but Esposito, Ryan and Lanie were her long time friends. This was hitting them harder.

"Demming, check your contacts, see if there has been any crimes in the area of her apartment. If she saw something she would have tried to stop it." Esposito tried to move on.

Castle looked at Beckett's desk. His chair was still next to it. It squeezed his heart to see the sign that she still hoped he'd come back. _Would he? _When he left, Castle didn't know for sure. _If this hadn't happened, would I have come back?_ He sat in her chair. He could almost hear her yelling at him for playing with the height.

"Castle?"

He jerked. Esposito was standing above him.

"I need to get on her computer."

"Sure." He moved out of her chair and on reflex he settled into his chair next to the desk. When it registered, he wasn't sure what to do.

"She wouldn't let us move the chair." Esposito flipped the switch to start Kate's computer. "But we knew you wouldn't be coming back."

"Why do you think I'd not be coming back?"

"Look at your life. Then look at us. Every person in this building has to work hard to make the rent on our modest apartments. You own a lavish home in the Hamptons and a huge apartment in the city. Why should you care about us?" Esposito didn't blink.

"I do care. I'm sorry I gave the opposite impression." Castle abruptly stood up. _How did I let things get like this?_ He strode out the door. Everywhere he looked he saw Kate. He walked through the hall where Beckett had shot her mother's killer to save him. He remembered her face when he mentioned her mother. He had to smile when she told him there were "many layers" to the "Beckett Onion."

He was silent on the cab drive home. He barely acknowledged the doorman's "Welcome home." He fumbled with his keys at the door when it was yanked open.

"Dad!" It was Alexis, "I was just on my way out! Welcome back." She kissed his cheek. She saw his expression

"Are you ok?"

"Beckett's missing."

"Oh no!"

"What is it Alexis?" Martha poked her head out of the kitchen. "Richard!"

"I don't want to talk about it, Mother."

She looked taken back.

"Beckett is missing." Alexis filled in for her.

"Oh."

_And they couldn't get a hold of me. Two years of working with them and I turned them off when I wasn't getting my way. How mature!_ Castle slammed his door in another display of how grown up he is.

Castle's cell phone rang and he jumped for it.

"Castle."

"We found her car."

"On my way."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note**: I think this will be the last chapter for a few days but chapter 5 is pretty short so I might be able to post it on Monday.

* * *

Chapter 4

Castle broke records getting to the site. He recognized Kate's car instantly. It was parked in the parallel parking slots on the side of the road. It looked like any other car—except for the uniformed cops and detectives swarming it. Castle approached Esposito, "What do we have?" He knew the hollow feeling in his stomach was the result of not eating but he couldn't stop now.

He didn't even look up, "Kate's car."

"What was she doing here?"

"According to a police report," Demming read from a file, "There was a shooting on Monday a block up the road and the police on site requested all available back up."

"This is only 5 blocks from the station." Castle glanced around.

"The timing matches," Ryan put in. "If Kate was in her car, going to pick up lunch she would have heard the call on the radio. If she was heading to "Chico's" like Lanie thinks, Beckett would be nearby."

"And we all know Beckett, if she could have helped she would have." Esposito gave a small smile.

"So she pulls in here, gets out and goes to help." Ryan theorized

"Wouldn't she have been in the report?" Castle asked.

"No one saw her, but this is her car, check out the Fuzzy dice."

"I'm a medical examiner, not a CSI but that is blood in there." Lanie jumped in.

"We saw it." Esposito kept jotting his notes. The news blindsided Castle.

"And you couldn't have warned me?" He asked.

"We figured that you would be your annoying self and made some sort of joke."

"This is Kate we are talking about, why would I be joking?"

"Well, then how about we forgot that you don't do blood real well? We have more important things than to worry about your reaction."

"There's a ticket on the windshield, apparently there wasn't money in the meter." Ryan observed.

"Look into it, see when it was posted." Esposito instructed.

It took a while to get the CSI guys to get to the scene, but they were thorough. The group watched as they made calls: Ryan to the cop who signed the ticket, Esposito to the Captain to tell him what they found.

Castle didn't have anyone to call. He glanced at Demming. He was jamming his shoe into the dirt on the sidewalk.

"When was the last time you saw Kate?" Castle's voice sounded hollow to his own ears.

"Last day you did." Demming was curt. "Ok, that's not quiet true, I saw her around the precinct, but she treated me as any other cop. She was focused on her job and didn't let anyone get in her way."

"You guys broke up before your weekend…?" Castle trailed off. The news made him look at Ryan and Esposito.

"I wasn't what she was looking for." Demming rephrased her speech to him.

"Sorry." He wasn't, but Castle knew it was the polite thing to say.

"Had no idea that a month later I'd be looking into her disappearance." Demming opened the folder again.

"We'll find her."

The techs were loading things into their van.

"I'll go with them and check the swabs of blood against Kate's file." Lanie picked up her bag. Esposito looked up, "We won't be too much longer, just waiting for the tow truck."

Ryan hung up his phone and joined the gang. "Cop who signed it is still out on his route but they'll have him call me when he gets in."

"How in the world would a good cop like Kate respond to a scene but not report in? The instant she hears the bulletin, the first protocol is to call in to say, "I'm responding." Demming asked a very good question.  
Ryan grimaced. "Her radio was giving her fits recently. I guess it finally gave out."

"Right after she heard the alert but not before she can radio in?"

"Talk about bad timing." Castle mused. "What if someone jimmied with her radio so they could lure her out into the open and abduct her?"

The other three groaned. "There's the Castle we all know."

"So what do you think?" Castle relaxed and let his smile grow.

Esposito made a face, "The tech guys will figure that out pretty fast when they look at the car, but I doubt it—most criminals aren't that big of masterminds."

"But some are."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Thanks for all the comments! I love reading them and it makes me think about my story and the things you suggest. Please post more! This chapter is going to have a big surprise for Kate's character but I hope the timing fits into the _REAL_ Castle show.

* * *

Chapter 5

Back in the squad room, the guys were going over all the evidence from the shooting. It was an open case so even some of the cops working it didn't have all the details yet. Esposito was on the phone with the lead investigator trying to get information. Every sound they jumped, looking to see whom it was. Eventually when the elevator sounded, Lanie walked out with a folder of results. The instant they saw her they knew. Esposito didn't even say good-bye; he shut his cell phone.

"Lanie?" Esposito needed it official.

Her eyes were dazed and she handed him a file. "Two types of blood. The blood on the driver seat is Kate's. The blood from the backseat is still running but I thought you would want to know as soon as I did."

After seeing the blood in the car, Castle almost expected it but the official designation still made him wince.

"It wasn't a lot of blood." Demming tried to see the positive.

"Right." Lanie latched on the good news. "Maybe she was grazed by a bullet or fell and cut herself."

"But there is no bullets in the car, no damage to it. The shooting was up the street." Ryan reminded.

"She must have been hurt elsewhere."

"How did she make it to her car?" Questions floated around the bullpen but no one had real answers.

"There's an injured person in the back: a cop?" Castle suggested.

"All the cops are accounted for. One killed, three injured, dozens on scene after the shots fired call went out."

"What caused the shooting?" Ryan had lost out to the other three and hadn't been able to read the shooting report.

"Maybe it was a professional hit on a crook that a beat cop overheard." Castle tried his hand at storytelling.

Even Ryan gave him a withering look, "Why would a hit man not use a silencer?"

"Ok, so it wasn't my best theory." Castle shrugged.

"And you call yourself a crime novelist.

Castle looked offended, "Alright then," He paused, eyes closed thinking hard, "How's this; gang violence is escalading in the area and a beat cop notices a gathering crowd and calls for back up to do crowd control but before the back up gets there a shoot out between the two area gangs starts and the report of a shooting goes over the radio."

"Congratulations, someone read the case file." Lanie pointed out.

"I had to read something while you were doing your CSI thing."

"But how do we end up with a missing cop?" Demming asked. "The other officers were left where they fell. Why Kate?"

"And how did she get blood in her car." Ryan reminds them.

"One of the gang is injured…" Castle theorizes.

"So they grab Kate."

"Why?"

Esposito and Lanie exchange glances. "So you don't know her that well."

"What well?"

"She was a pre med student when mom died. She was working in a hospital." Lanie explained briefly.

"The ER to be precise. She knows trauma." Esposito added.

"She was a med student?" Castle asked looking around the room.

"She planned on being a doctor—probably a surgeon, then her mom died and her focus changed as did her college major."

Castle wondered what else she hadn't told him.

Lanie's phone rang and she flipped it open as she stepped away, "Parrish."

"How long have you all known that?" Castle asked the guys.

"A long time." Ryan shrugged, "Since I first worked with her I think."

Castle turned to Esposito.

"Did an undercover assignment when she posed as a med student. I found out then."

Castle turned to his nemesis. "Demming?"

He shook his head. "Not a clue."

Castle felt better knowing that he wasn't the only one in the dark.

Lanie snapped her phone shut. She blinked. "That was the lab. We got a match to the blood on the backseat."

"A lead!" Castle leaned forward.

"It's blocked." Lanie looked puzzled.

"What?"

"It matched DNA on file. But it is a restricted file." Lanie tried to explain, "That means we can't know who the DNA belongs to. The FBI doesn't want us to know who it is."

* * *

**Author's note:** I know I am taking creative license with Beckett's history. Honestly, I don't remember them mentioning anything about what Kate was doing when her mom died. We know how Mom died (stabbing) and who killed her (bad guy from episode, _Sucker Punch_), but Kate hasn't said a lot of what she was doing around then. Maybe I missed the big info, but for the sake of my story, I had to have a few surprises. What do you think? Too much of a character change? Post your comments!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Blood

* * *

"The FBI is blocking us from finding out who the blood belongs to." Lanie crossed her arms, thinking out loud.

"That's not nice." Ryan sunk into his chair.

"The blood is from an FBI agent?" Castle was incredulous.

"More than likely from a case the FBI was working on that they don't want other bureaus to investigate." Esposito explained.

"The FBI is protecting a criminal?"

"Maybe it's not a criminal; maybe it's an informant?" Ryan suggested.

"We need to talk to someone in the FBI." Demming stated.

"Kate is the one with the contacts." Esposito reminded the group.

"So you guys don't stay in touch with Will?" Castle asked.

" 'Na, we generally don't get involved with her boyfriends."

"I just don't understand why the FBI is blocking this info." Lanie wonders out loud.

"Until we find out who it is, we probably won't." Demming added. "Motive is very important in understanding their actions."

"I'll get a request into the FBI going through channels but it will take a while." Esposito informed them.

"More time than we have." Ryan mumbled.

"Wait a minute;" Castle waved for silence. "Kate stopped to help when the shooting started, but there was no damage to her car. How did she get hurt in the shooting, make it back to her car, get in the car with someone else bleeding in the backseat, but leave the car still parked near the shooting?" Castle asked.

Ryan and Esposito gave him strange expressions.

"I agree; this is getting confusing." Castle took a hint and pulled out the white board and snatched a black marker from Kate's desk. He stuck photos from Kate's car onto the board. "She stops here Monday at lunchtime to help with the shooting. She is injured but makes it to her car." He stropped and noted, "Kate blood in car," with an arrow pointing to the front seat. "Someone the FBI knows is in the backseat injured, but there is no body. Why?"

The group gathered around Castle and the white board.

"But something happens before Kate can drive away."

"Her keys weren't in the car." Lanie reminded

"Maybe she dropped them?" Castle suggested. "In the struggle with the gang shooting, she looses her keys. She and whoever she is trying to help make it to her car…"

"…but without her car keys they can't make a get away, so they have to go on the run." Ryan picks up the story.

"I can't see Beckett on the run with an injured person."

"She wouldn't leave him or her there." Demming shot back.

"But she would have contacted us by now." Castle knew that for sure.

"So you are saying she is hiding from us? I thought you of all people would have had her kidnapped by some notorious criminal in your theories." Demming taunted.

"How about someone from one of the gangs followed Kate and the mystery person to her car and prohibited them from leaving."

"Abducting her." Ryan added. "I doubt she went willingly."

"But why would a gang want Kate?"

"As we said earlier, her medical knowledge." Lanie reminded. "At the shooting site there were a couple pools of blood that signify a bunch of damage to an unknown victim."

"So there are injured parties that we don't have yet."

"Exactly." Lanie agreed. "But only the blood from Kate was in her car; she's not one of the seriously injured shooters."

"That's comforting."

Esposito's cell phone rang. He stepped away to answer it.

"Let's check hospitals." Ryan suggested.

"For what?" Castle asked

"It was a shooting, cops were shot, we could check for other gunshot victims and see if we can get a lead on a live gang witness who can help us figure out where Kate could be."

"I'm still confused on the FBI involvement."

"The FBI does have a gang task force, it could be involved in one of their cases."

"We just don't have contacts in the FBI gang department." Demming added.

Esposito rejoined the group. "That was Sergeant Cooper, the head of the shooting investigation. He's going to brief us on what they have so far."

"How many victims are we looking at?" Lanie asked.

"One cop killed, three injured, I have no idea how many gang members we are looking at.

"That is my cue to get some work done. Maybe IDing those dirt bags will lead us to Kate." Lanie moved past the guys. Esposito fell instep beside her as he slipped his arm around her waist as they walked to the elevator.

Castle straightened, "Did you just see that?"

Ryan smiled. "Where have you been the last two months?"

"Is that allowed?"

"They are not cops working together." Demming reminded

"Not cops, but are working together."

"Doesn't count." Demming headed away from the group.

Castle turned to the white board and made more notes. _Kate's car, her blood, mysterious blood, FBI involvement…_

He looked at the file in his hand. There was so much they just didn't know now.

"Um, Castle?" Ryan started.

Castle looked up.

"What are you doing?"

"Kate uses this to solve her cases." Castle smiled at the memory of her shushing him after he told her that studies have shown that sleep can help people. Looking at Ryan's face he swallowed the smile, "I use something like this it to plan a fake murder for my books with fake details and twists, but trying to solving a real case with real facts and real details, is hard! I can't invent things to add to the case to make it make sense!"

Ryan turned away, "Welcome to the world of a cop. We can't get to edit things away."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** Thanks for all the comments and reviews! I LOVE opening my e-mail and having unread messages that tell me of a person reviewing my story. My original goal was to have this story concluded before the real season started but since I have only a few days before the series premier, I doubt I'll make it. I am still working on the ending—I want it classy and how a real show would end without making it too forced and I have to work all weekend so I won't have much time to write. But I will get it done as soon as I can. :-)

* * *

The elevator opened. "I am looking for Detective Esposito."

"That would be me." Esposito looked up from his desk and stood. The man extended his hand, "I'm Sergeant Cooper from the gang division. We talked on the phone."

"Right," Esposito waved the team over. "The sergeant is an old timer from the gang violence department. He is the lead investigator on the shooting."

"Glad to meet you."

Introductions were started before Esposito pointed the guys in the direction of the conference room.

"So what do we know?" Esposito opened the floor for the cop.

Cooper knew gangs. He pulled out his files and passed around copies of important documents. "We believe there were two gangs involved in this shooting: the Crusaders and the Kings. Tough crowd. Guys had been at each other's throats for years. This is only one of their more violent incidents."

"What else?"

"Mostly shootings, beatings, robberies, but always targeting members of the other gang. Then the victim gang retaliates and it goes back and forth for a while. This is the first time they have gotten a cop killed. Their beef is with the other side, but when anyone gets in the way…" Cooper shrugged.

"Did anybody see Kate?" Castle asked.

"Now that we have had time to regroup and think, a couple guys think they saw her but no one can remember where she was when things ended."

"How did it end?"

"Everyone scattered. SWAT pulled up and that kind of ended the gang war. They knew that a cop going down was not in their favor."

"What kind of body count do we have with this?"

"Just the one cop so far—hopefully the others pull through. But as for the gang members, we have three bodies and a couple hits that apparently were helped away by friends but from reports, we can assume we will be getting their bodies soon."

"So there were injuries."

"Yes. At least two we think would have needed surgery."

"Any reports from the hospitals?"

"No, but I'm not expecting any. We'll be lucky if the doctor calls us after the fact. These gangs can be pretty ruthless."

"We didn't exactly need that reminder." Castle was on his feet and left the room. Esposito and Ryan could handle the cop stuff, his mind was on other things. In the bullpen he added the names of the gang to the white board. He drew arrows from each name to the photo of the blood in the backseat. He drew a question mark next to each line. Photos of the casualties lined the right side of the murder board. _None of their blood matches the blood in the backseat. _Lanie had called earlier with that news.

Esposito, Ryan and Demming found Castle pacing in front of the white board.

"This blood is still stumping me." He pointed to the photo, "Who is our mystery person? A good guy or a bad guy?"

"Who knows?"

"And why is that blood restricted?" Castle continued without even appearing to hear Ryan's comment.

"Still trying to use my FBI contacts, but so far no one can help us." Esposito informed them.

"That is what is going to break this case." Castle proclaimed. "Once we ID him…"

"Or her." Ryan added.

"…it will all make sense."

"Since we have no idea, how are we going to do that with what we have now?" Demming crossed his arms.

Castle stopped pacing. He looked at the murder board—_er, white board. Kate's not dead!_ He told himself. Looking at the board brought nothing to mind. "I have no idea."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Sorry this was so short. I couldn't come up with anything else to say. Next chapter Alexis breaks the case open for the team. And it is much longer.


	8. A Break In The Case

Chapter 8: A Break in the Case

* * *

Castle slammed his phone shut. The guys looked up.

"I finally get a hold of someone in Agent Shaw's office only to find out that she is out of the country!"

"Agent Shaw?" Demming turned to Esposito.

"FBI agent. Specializes in serial killers, worked a case with us."

"Right before we met you." Ryan added.

"I forget that you have FBI contacts." Esposito looked back at the white board.

"We are the cops and we can't find anyone who has access to the file." Ryan shrugged. "There are so many dead ends right now."

Castle rubbed his eyes. "I can't think anymore, guys. I'm heading home for the night. Call me if there is any change."

Castle hadn't slept since Esposito and Ryan brought him back to NYC. The other guys had taken turns to get a nap but he refused all offers. He wanted to find Kate and soon. But exhaustion was beginning to take its toll. As much as he wanted to be super writer/super detective, he couldn't focus anymore. He grabbed the first available taxi. It was late when he arrived at his penthouse and his mother and daughter were already in bed. He headed straight for his room and collapsed into bed. He's worry with a shower and clean clothes in the morning.

And he slept.

The next morning, Alexis was sitting on the bar stools in the kitchen when her dad stumbled in. "Dad! Any news on Beckett?"

He looked at her. "You know not to talk to me before my morning coffee."

She pointed at the coffee maker.

It was full and steaming.

"Thanks."

She let him unwind and drink his first cup of the day but it was hard with all the questions she had bubbling up inside her.

"Well?"

"Not much info. We know she was at the site of a shooting, she left blood in her car and we don't know where she is now." He finished the piping hot drink.

"So she was abducted by the shooters?"

"It was a gang war."

"Then why take a hostage?"

"Kate was a med student so we think she was grabbed to help care for the injured."

"I didn't know Kate was going to be a doctor. Was she talking about going back to school?"

Castle's head snapped up. "What did you say?"

Alexis hesitated, "Which part?"

"You are brilliant." Castle grabbed her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

Shower and new clothes forgotten as he raced out the apartment building to the police department. The precinct elevator door opened and Castle rushes to the three cops still there. "Esposito, if I didn't know she was med student, how did they?" The excitement on his face came out in words, "Think about it. Her being in med school is not something just anyone knows—just look at Demming and me! She doesn't go around and say, "I was a med student let me help you," someone in the gang had to know who she is—and not just that she is a cop, someone had to know she knew medicine!"

His words registered.

"They had to know she was a med student. That was a long time ago, she hasn't even mentioned it in a while…" Esposito went red in the face, "No way!" He turned to the medical examiner who was sitting across his desk, "Lanie did you e-mail me the DNA that was blocked?"

"Um, yes."

"Ok, she keeps her numbers somewhere…" Esposito rushed over to Becket's desk and rummaged through a desk drawer. A moment later he proudly showed his treasure: a white business card with an official blue logo on the front. "Special Agent William Sorenson and there is a phone number." He picked up his cell phone and started dialing.

"Will, it's Esposito from the NYPD. I am calling in that huge favor you owe me. Kate Beckett is missing possibly because of the undercover op you two did. The one when she posed as a nurse and you were the deadbeat boyfriend. Who was the target? The gang guy…I need a name."

He listened a moment, "Jonathan Ortega." He looked at Ryan. Ryan was already typing into his search engine.

"I am e-mailing you DNA results from a test we just ran. See if it is anyone you ran across in that case. I'm not asking you to give me the access, just ID the blood for me."

"Anyone else not know what is going on?" Castle asked the others around him. Ryan and Demming shrugged.

"Beckett went undercover as med student right out of the academy." Esposito pocketed the phone.

"This would be Will from the FBI and kidnapping case?"

"Yes. This was before the kidnapping case. That case ruined their relationship. This one got it going." Esposito told them. "Beckett was caring for some mob boss's daughter or sister or mom—I never got full details."

"So they found out their daughter/sister/mom's nurse is a cop…" Castle starts.

"Maybe not at that time," Esposito interrupts, "Otherwise they'd have come after her before now. But she is there for the shoot out and when someone important gets shot, they recognize her as the med student and want her help."

"Jonathan Ortega was arrested a couple times." Ryan scrolled through the online file, "…served a nickel for assault on a cop 10 years ago…been involved with a street game since then."

"What gang?" Esposito had a bad feeling.

"The Crusaders."

"That is one of the gangs involved in the shoot out." Demming moved to Ryan's computer to read over his shoulder.

"What were they fighting over?" Castle asked.

"Cooper thinks that it was a turf war."

"You better call him and see if Ortega was there during the shooting. Maybe they can find him."

"The shooting was two days ago, I doubt he stays in the same place long."

_So where is she now?_

_Would they even keep her alive this long?_

Castle didn't want to even think about that. He paced the floor, "Beckett would try to contact us. She would have tried to call us. Check every phone call on your cells and see where they were placed!"

"Castle, can you track all YOUR cell phone calls? We get calls from officers and tip hotline calls from all over the city. Trying to dig through all that would be impossible."

"Ok," He thought some more, "What about an agent in distress call?"

"There you go thinking that cops are really like the ones you see on TV." Demming complained.

"Ok, what about a really weird phone call like a REALLY weird wrong number?"

"Castle…" Esposito turns on him before Ryan interrupts them.

"Oh man." Ryan goes white. "I got a call Monday afternoon from some guy wanting gauze and a whole lot of morphine. I thought it was a crank call."

"Asking about gauze?" Castle didn't believe him.

"Earlier this summer, I started getting those kinds of calls a lot: I checked into it, and a new pharmacy has a similar number to my cell phone—you switch two numbers, the last ones and instead of the pharmacy, you get me." He turned to Esposito, "You remember, on the McKesson case, I got three calls before we got the body to the lab. Beckett was ready to fire me until I explained that they _really_ were the wrong number. The calls had stopped after those first couple weeks as people began to get the number right. I just figured this was another one of those mistakes!"

"Gauze and morphine, sounds like they were trying to patch someone up."

"Track it!" Esposito ordered him.

Ryan pulled out his phone and scrolled down his recent calls and entered the numbers into the database on his computer's search engine.

Castle starts building a new theory. "The bad guys need medical supplies so Beckett gives them your cell phone number knowing that she could claim she mixed up the last two numbers of the pharmacy! Creative!"

Esposito's phone chirped. "Hello?"

The conversation didn't last long. "Thanks." He shut the phone. "The blood in the back of Kate's car was Jonathan Ortega."

Demming had retreated to Esposito's computer and was wildly working. "Jonathan is second in command of the Crusaders. The leader is a man by the name of Trevor Whitaker."

"Any chance he was at the shoot out?"

"More than likely." Demming admitted.

"Come on Ryan. We need a location!"

"I can't make it search any faster!" He shrugged helplessly. The computer dinged. "Got a name."

* * *

**Author note:** It makes me mad when TV shows solve crimes in a day or two because in reality, it doesn't happen that fast. But I can't have our guys chasing dead ends for several more days cause I'm sure I'd lose you, my faithful readers, so I will abbreviate it into "show form." Remember to leave comments on my story-we're almost there!


	9. Finding Kate

**Author's Note:** I'm almost done with the story. I hope you all like it. Thanks for all the comments, putting my story on your "Favorite Stories list" or "Story Alert Subscription." I appreciate all the encouragement.

* * *

Chapter 9: Finding Kate

"I've got it." Ryan pulled up the screen, "The cell phone owner is Kevin Macgregor."

"Macgregor?" Demming straightened and turned away from the white board.

"You know him?"

"Yeah, he's a pretty big name in the robbery department—has gang connections come to think of it, I'll need to look at the file to be sure—but mostly big robberies." Demming explained, "He served time for one robbery, 4 years I think. We suspect him in other robberies, but we can't prove it."

"The cell phone that called mine is transmitting from a warehouse area." Ryan located the number by cell phone towers.

"Warehouse area?" Castle asked.

"It is one of the old storage places for one of the major stores, I forget which one." Esposito was looking over Ryan's shoulder.

"No wonder you keep strike out with women. You've got to remember they love to shop." Castle reminded them.

"Maybe you need to remember that for your women, Castle, but Jenny seems to like me as I am." Ryan smiled at Castle.

Esposito straightened up. "We need a search warrant."

"There is no way a judge **wouldn't** issue one with what we have."

"I can get it even faster, Judge Markway is an old friend." Castle was already dialing. This time the cops didn't even argue.

The warrant took no time.

SWAT, the gang unit and the four unlikely team members converged just out of sight of the warehouse.

No one cracked jokes as each cop knew the importance of this task. For Castle it was all about finding Beckett, but for the others, the realities of a cop's life was hard. These gang members had shown no qualms about killing a cop. They wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Each member fastened on their Kevlar vests and checked their weapons. Castle tightened his vest with "Writer" blazed across the front. He moved toward the assembling teams when Esposito cut him off.

"You can't come with us."

"Esposito, you can't keep me back! This is Kate."

"And that is why I am keeping you back. You are not a cop. These guys have killed before and are not about to stop now. Whether you like it or not, you're not a cop, you are a famous writer."

"Hey, I've already signed all the legal stuff!"

"The Captain would not let me hear the end of it if anything happened to you. And I like my career." Esposito grabbed one of the gang crime guys, "Stay with him and if he tries to follow us, shoot him."

Castle raised his eyebrows. Esposito stormed away to join the rest of the assault team.

"I think he was kidding about the shooting part." Castle told the man with him.

"Don't test it and we won't have to see." The cop retorted.

Demming, Esposito and Ryan followed Sergeant Cooper into the building. SWAT was right behind them. The guys spread out as they covered all exits and tried to find their targets.

Voices echoed in the distance behind a closed door. Ryan strained to hear.

Demming and Cooper were in the lead but they slowed as the voices became louder.

"Where is Cane, he was supposed to be back by now?"

"Dumping a body is not easy work."

"He better not be caught."

"He's not that dumb."

"You could have saved his life if you had let someone take him to the ER." A woman's voice rang out.

Cooper signaled and hit the door. It swung open. Esposito was the first one in, "NYPD!"

"Freeze!"

The instant the cops came in, the gang reacted. Most ran. Ryan, the next person into the room saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He whirled. It took a second to realize a man was using another person as a human shield as he tried to get away. The shield was Kate.

"Let her go!" Ryan ordered. The others glanced his way.

"You can't shoot me, you might hit her!" The man sounded frantic. Demming noticed the 9mm in the man's other hand.

"I'll shoot her." The gang member inched away from the team. The police filtered into the room and headed after the fleeting criminals. Three stayed back with Kate and her captor. Esposito took a second to look at his boss. She didn't look good. Kate's face was white and was biting her lip to keep from crying out. He noticed the large red stain on her shirt before he forced his eyes away to concentrate on the gang member.

_Focus, Esposito._ He told himself.

"Let her go!" Cooper was coming from the other side. The gang member was in a corner.

"BACK OFF!" His voice was raised.

Esposito took note. There were no hostage negotiators in the group and he never aced his negotiation tests. _But the shooting tests…_ Someone had to take the shot before the gunman got jumpy and pulled the trigger himself.

"Ryan. Attention." He ground out.

His partner got the drift, "Everybody just relax. Put the weapon down!"

A gun fired.

Kate and her captor tumbled backward to the ground.


	10. The Aftermath

**Author's Note**: Sorry about the author stunt with the cliffhanger. I don't like it when I'm reading a book that ends like that, but I promise you my story won't end on a cliffhanger, just that chapter. :-)

* * *

CHAPT 10: The Aftermath

* * *

Esposito grabbed his radio. "Get the medic in here!"

"Status!" Cooper hollered at his men.

"Clear!"

"Secure!"

"Secure!"

Before any of the four could move toward the bodies, they heard footsteps clanging against metal above them. The guys whirled around and looked up. Running along the length of the building was a high metal platform, which would have been helpful for reading tall boxes and crates when the warehouse was in use. Now it was just something they missed in their haste. A figure was rushing down the nearby steps. The word "Writer" emblazoned on the front and back of the Kevlar jacket identified him before the cops fired.

"CASTLE!" Esposito really wanted to deck him this time.

Rick Castle ignored him, jumping the last few steps to the ground, pushing past the others to get to the figures on the ground.

"Beckett!" He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms.

She moaned.

"Stay awake Beckett!" He ordered. Her eyes remained closed.

Demming picked up the gun the kidnapper had been holding. He checked for a pulse. Then again to be sure. The man was dead. The bullet in his neck made sure of that.

Esposito turned to see the paramedics entering the room. Cooper and his team were backing out with the gang members who were in custody.

Cooper nodded to the other cop, "Nice shot."

"I didn't fire." Esposito noticed the pistol that Castle had dropped.

Cooper noticed it too. Demming and Ryan followed their gaze.

"He sure would have been a good sniper." Demming mumbled.

"Don't let him hear that." Ryan insisted.

Cooper stepped away to take care of the other gang members. The three gathered behind the paramedics and Castle. It was obvious where her injury was. The right side of her shirt was a dark red. One medic yanked up the fabric to assess the damage. The guys braced themselves. A long gash marred her flesh.

If that hit an organ…

"Don't see a bullet hole." One medic observed.

"Looks like a clean shot. Not quite grazed but not a direct hit either." The other pulled on his gloves and reached for the skin.

Kate winced at the touch and moaned again.

"Looks like it could be infected, Gary, get an IV bag, we need to get that started."

"Kate." Castle wanted to burry her in a hug. But he knew it would hurt her worse so he settled for nudging her with his head. "Why is she unconscious?"

"Probably fainted. There seems to be a lot of blood loss." The paramedic noted.

"Not to mention stress." Esposito reminded. "Alright guys, let the paramedics do their job and let's finish ours. Come on Castle."

Castle didn't want to leave. Esposito had to pry his arms off Kate and physically move him away.

"If I ever should deck you, now would be an appropriate time." Esposito hissed at the writer. Castle didn't even look like he heard him.

"Hey!" Esposito shook him, "Surprising us like that was stupid."

"I couldn't let him hurt her." His honesty surprised them.

"Where did you get the gun?"

"And how did you get away from Harrison? He was supposed to keep you back." Ryan asked.

"There are so much more important things to do than worry about a crime novelist." Castle remarked.

"Very funny, Castle. How?"

"I walked in the opposite direction, found the stairs and climbed them. By the time you hit the door, he had lost me!" Castle smiled. Some stress was gone now that Kate was found. Not all but some.

"Wait, how did you get the gun?" Demming asked.

"I am licensed to carry a concealed weapon."

The guys moaned. "No way!"

Castle just smiled but his attention was on Kate. Her eyes were still closed. The paramedics strapped her to the gurney and rolling her to the ambulance.

* * *

**Author's Note**: One more chapter to go; putting the finishing touches on it. Comment please!


	11. The Conclusion

**Author's Note**: I was originally trying to get this finished before the season started because in my story Chapter 10 was the first time Castle had seen Kate since walking out in the season 2 finale. This chapter SHE sees HIM.

* * *

CHAPT 11 The Conclusion

"This is why I should bring my own car." Castle wanted to follow the ambulance when it left.

"But you didn't so you have to wait for us to decide to drive you." Esposito tried not to show it, but they were as concerned for Kate as Castle was. But work came first. The three cops and their tagalong helped Cooper get the gang members to the precinct for booking.

"Can't we go now?" Castle paced the floor.

"Castle, you are starting to sound like a whiney kid." Even Ryan was put out at him. "We will leave when we get done."

When they were ready to leave the precinct, Demming made a decision, "I'm glad Kate's found. But I should get back to work. I've got a buddy who is covering for me, but I really should give him a hand."

"Kate would want to thank you." Esposito told him.

Demming shrugged, "I'll see her later. You guys should be the one to see her now."

"We'll tell her you helped."

"Thanks." Demming turned to leave.

"How come you are nice to him and not me?" Castle asked with his Castle whine.

"We are nice to you." Ryan reminded.

"Come on." Esposito headed out to his waiting car. Castle didn't need to be told twice.

Lanie beat the boys to the hospital. She had headed over the instant they called to update her about the raid. The three guys found her talking to a doctor and reading a file.

"Well?" Esposito asked when she came over to them.

"She looks ok." Lanie looked relieved. "The doctors are getting antibiotics and drugs in her system to counteract the effects of the shooting and her time as a hostage. Her dad is here too." Lanie nodded to the waiting room. Mr. Beckett was pacing the small room. The four walked in.

"Do you know anything yet?"

"She's in surgery to get her side patched up but things will be fine." Lanie assured him.

It wasn't long before a nurse came in. "How is she?"

"She is in recovery. The doctors are pleased with how things look."

"What was the diagnosis?" Esposito asked.

"Doctor Hudson can give you more details, but she lost a lot of blood so we are having to replace that."

"You're not about to run out are you? I'd be glad to donate!" Castle's comments brought a chuckle from all in the room.

"I don't think so, but I'll keep that in mind." The nurse smiled.

"Can we see her?" Esposito asked.

"She's still pretty sedated."

"Please?" Her father wanted to see her.

"Just a few minutes." She relented.

The nurse showed them to a room and left them at the door. Mr. Beckett pushed it open and hurried to his daughter's bedside.

"Hey Katie." He resorted to her childhood nickname.

Castle swallowed hard. Kate was lying very still in the white hospital bed. But finally seeing her and knowing things would be ok felt so good.

She stirred. "Dad?" Her voice was soft

"Hey baby." He touched her face. "How you doing?"

She groaned. "I guess I really scared Esposito for him to call you."

"I would have killed him if he hadn't called me—my daughter disappears for days, held hostage then shot, and you expect me to not come running when you are found? I know I'm not the most supportive of cop fathers, but you are still my daughter and I love you."

Kate smiled. "I love you too."

"Your friends came." He looked over his shoulder. Esposito, Ryan, Castle and Lanie had stayed back trying to give him some privacy with his daughter but in a hospital room that was pretty much impossible.

Kate rolled her head back to look toward the door.

"Castle?" Her eyes widened when she recognized the extra figure.

"It's not everyday that I get to rescue a maiden in distress." He tried to be cheerful.

Kate sighed. "I don't need this right now."

Castle didn't know if it was exhaustion or if her guard was down because of the drugs, but her comments hurt. "This isn't how I imagined our meeting after my vacation either."

"I didn't expect you to come back." She sighed.

Esposito stepped up. "We are glad to see you. You gave us all a fright."

"Clever idea with the gauze call, but it did take me a while to get it." Ryan added.

"I'm glad you figured it out." Kate smiled at them.

"We couldn't have done it without Castle." Ryan admitted, "He's the one that made me think of the phone call."

"It was one of his crazy theories that jogged Ryan's memory." Esposito added.

"Hey," Castle took offence, "My theories are not crazy."

Everyone looked at him. Kate smiled, but closed her eyes.

"Ok, maybe some of them are…but not all of them!" He relented.

Their lighthearted banter went on a while. Mr. Beckett didn't leave her side. The nurse poked her head in, "The patient needs to rest. I'm going to throw you out now, go get some coffee or something to eat, let her rest."

Her dad slowly stood. "I'll go get some coffee, but I'll be right back as soon as the nurse lets me in." He promised her. Kate smiled.

The others gathered in the waiting room. "You want a ride back to the department?" Esposito asked Castle.

"No, I think I'll just hang around here a while," Castle shrugged.

As the two cops and Lanie headed out, Castle slipped past the nurse's station and rapped on Kate's door. He poked his head in. She looked up. A small frown showed on her face.

"You feel like talking?"

"Since when did that stop you?"

He hesitated, "You've never been shot before."

"Not with you around anyway." She deflected the comment. "Come on in." She was looking better than when they found her, but she still had a long recovery. Castle settled into the chair next to the bed.

"You really didn't expect me to come back?"

"I hadn't seen you in over 2 months and you show up in my hospital room, how was I supposed to react?" She defended herself.

"I was coming back." Castle wasn't even sure he believed himself.

"You've got enough research for 50 books, why hang around?" Kate closed her eyes. "I didn't think you'd stay around forever."

"I was still working on the book. My vacation wasn't over yet."

Kate grimaced. Castle could tell he would have to do better.

"I was going to come back after the book release."

"And then you would have found another excuse not to come back." Kate retorted.

She wasn't buying any of his cheap excuses. Castle sighed. "I thought a lot over the summer and I realized that I still want you in my life—maybe not always as just a cop I follow around, I really felt that we were friends. I know I'm not perfect. I made so many mistakes this summer just regarding you and the team! I know there's no excuse, but it is hard to figure out where I stand—I'm not really a co-worker since I'm not a cop, and I'm not just an acquaintance, since we work together."

Kate didn't respond. She just listened.

"Friends are there when someone needs them. And I did a pretty good job this summer of avoiding that. I'm sorry."

The creak of the door interrupted Kate's reply.

"I told you it's time to let the patient rest." The nurse glared disapprovingly at him.

Castle looked at Beckett. She did need the rest, but their conversation wasn't done. He reached for her hand. "I'll be back."

He stood and walked to the door.

"Castle?"

He turned.

She gave him a small smile, "See you at the Precinct."

* * *

**Author's Note**: Thanks for reading! I do appreciate all the comments and critiques you gave on my story and style. I hope you have felt that the time it took you to read "A Stitch in Time" was worth it. :-) Please post your feedback for the story. I look forward to knowing what you think of it.


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